Claire looked up at Aiden while he cleaned her face. His gentle strokes on her cheeks made her feel calmer. There was a whirlpool of emotions, worries and fears that kept swirling in her head. The initial adrenaline and fury she had felt from hearing what happened to her family was now slowly dying down leaving her with raw emotions she didn't want to deal with.
She hadn't noticed how tired she was from everything that had happened in the last few hours until Aiden lifted her in his arms. His rosewood scent mixed with a hint of cigar like smokiness paired with the body warmth she felt from his arms holding her up made her body notice just how much energy she was drained of. Absolutly nothing had gone right that night and every inch of her being begged her to just stop and lay down. To stop and cry. To stop and let it all out. To stop and wail over her brother's unrecognizable self while she hid her precious little Lily from the dangerous of the world in some far away place where they would never find her.
But she knew that none of that was even an option for her. Not cracking under pressure was what she had built her character on. She couldn't afford to crumble now, especially since she was painfully aware of how she didn't have enough strength in her to build herself back up again like she had done so many times over the past years.
But this man. This man made Claire's grip on herself slip whenever he was around. All the warnings she thought her body had given her were proved correct when he managed to make her crack in Lily's hospital room. Everything he had said and done were like bullets directly piercing through her vital spots. The ones she couldn't saveguard around him no matter how much she tried. Such exact precision scared the life out of her. Feeling like an open book which he could easily read out loud scared her senseless.
But it that instant, when he covered her eyes from the reality of her life and took the responsibilities off her shoulders for a brief moment, it all started to make sense. She understood that what she felt weren't warning signs at all. It was her body telling her that he was different, just like he had said he was.
Aiden had long finished wiping her clean. He was now enjoying the feel of her skin as he gently stroked her cheeks with his thumb. She hadn't opened her eyes since she had closed them a while ago. But even if he missed seeing her beautiful green orbs looking up at him, he had no rush. He was relishing in the fact that she didn't reject his touch.
As if she could hear him wanting to see her eyes, she slowly opened them. Instantly making his heart skip a beat and his hand freeze on top of her cheek. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he retracted his hand and proceeded to place his arm behind her headrest in an attempt to stay as close to her as he could without making her feel uncomfortable.
Even though they were sitting, he was still taller than her making her have to look up at him. Being so close to each other, Claire noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Not that they made him any less handsome. His gaze was fixed on her face and she knew that the space between them was too little. But she made no effort to widen it.
After a few more moments Claire was the one who broke the silence.
"I purposely ruined Cameron's tracker, so don't punish him for it. He only followed my orders."
"Okay." He replied without questioning her.
"My men will go pick up my new pup tomorrow." She continued and Aiden hummed in response. Claire then turned towards Cameron.
"I'm sorry Cameron. I wasted your efforts to keep them clean by ruining them with blood." She told him as she sadly looked down at her now blood stained bunny slippers. She frowned a bit as she sighed.
"It's okay ma'am. No apology needed." Cameron understood what she meant and answered without taking his eyes off he road. They were almost at their destination.
"They're cute." Aiden told her as he chuckled. He noticed she had them on when he first saw her at the villa. They made her look even more adorable.
"They were cute....now I'll have to throw them out. Blood is fairly easy to wash out but not from white whiskers and this kind of fluffy material." Claire said as she noticed they were already at the hospital.
Cameron opened her door once he parked and she stepped out. She was almost dragging her feet from exhaustion as all three of them made their way into the lobby and towards the elevator. She was so zoned out that she didn't notice they had gone up to one of the highest levels of the hospital. Passing the VIP floor where her family's rooms were.
Claire stepped out of the elevator and thought she had accidentally gotten off on the wrong floor so she started to turn around to get back on and go to the right one. But she was stopped by Aiden.
"It's the right floor." He told her as he guided her through the hall with his hand spread on her back. He noticed how cold she felt to the touch and as he had done earlier, he once again took of his suit jacket and covered her with it before he placed his hand in the same spot as before. She could take all of his suit jackets for all he cared.
Claire walked through the lavishly decorated hall that looked nothing like the hospital she was supposed to be in. The walls were painted with warm colors, the light fixtures were elegant and the signature smell of alcohol was nonexistent. She was confused as to what she was even doing here.
After a few minutes they stopped in front of a door that had a high security lock on it. Aiden stepped forward and punched in a series of numbers making the door click. He pushed it open and gestured for Claire to step inside. When she did her eyes widened at what she saw.
Her little Lily was sleeping soundly with Ben quietly sitting close to her in what seemed like a hotel room. If it weren't for the medical equipment, Claire would've sworn she was transported to a hotel suite as soon as she stepped through the door. The walls were decorated with plants and paintings, the windows were covered with long fancy drapes, the bed was massive and dressed with silk sheets.
Claire looked up at Aiden and found that he had been watching her while she scanned the room. As soon as their eyes met he offered her a sincere smile that made her understand he was behind whatever was happening.